The World of Harry Potter

From Np Hogwarts

Current revision as of 14:35, 11 December 2006

The Harry Potter books are an extremely popular series of fantasy novels by British writer J. K. Rowling and have made her the richest writer in literary history. A large portion of the narrative takes place in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, focusing on Harry Potter's struggle against the evil wizard Lord Voldemort. At the same time, the books explore the themes of friendship, ambition, choice, prejudice, courage, growing up, love, moral responsibility and the perplexities of death, set against the expansive backdrop of a magical world with its own complex history, diverse inhabitants, unique culture, and parallel societies.

The Wizarding World

The wizarding world in which Harry finds himself is both utterly separate from and yet intimately connected to our own world. Unlike the fantasy worlds of Narnia and Middle-earth, the world of Harry Potter exists alongside ours, and many of its institutions and locations are in towns, such as London, that are recognisable to anyone. It is a fragmented collection of hidden streets, overlooked and ancient pubs, lonely country manors and secluded castles that remain utterly invisible to the non-magical population (known as "Muggles"). Wizard ability is inborn, rather than learned, although one must attend schools such as Hogwarts in order to master and control it. Since one is either born a wizard or not, most wizards are unfamiliar with the Muggle world, which appears odder to them than their world would to us. Despite this, the magical world and its many fantastic elements are depicted very matter-of-factly. One of the principal themes in the novels is the juxtaposition of the magical and the mundane; the characters in the stories live utterly normal lives with utterly normal problems, despite their magical surroundings.

Hogwarts

Hogwarts is the only known major school of magic in Britain, training people with magical abilities to become fully qualified witches and wizards. Its status is not discussed in great detail in the Harry Potter novels, but it is known to be a co-educational secondary boarding school taking children from ages 11 to 18. J. K. Rowling initially said there are about 1000 students at Hogwarts, later saying the number was closer to 600.

There is a magical quill located in Hogwarts which detects the birth of a magical child, and writes their name down in a large parchment book. During the summer, a teacher (in recent years, Professor McGonagall) will check this book and send a letter to the children who will have turned the age of eleven by 31 August. Acceptance or rejection of a seat at Hogwarts must be mailed by 31 July. The letter also contains a list of supplies like spell books, uniform, and other things that the student will need to bring for use at school. The prospective student is expected to buy all the necessary materials, normally from shops in Diagon Alley, a secret street near Charing Cross in London. Students who cannot afford their supplies can receive financial aid from the school.

Letters to Muggle-born witches and wizards, who may not be aware of their powers or are unfamiliar with the concealed wizarding world, are delivered in person by wizards, who can then explain to the parents all about magical society, and convince them that it's not a hoax.

Each student is allowed to bring either an owl, toad, or cat to keep as a pet while at school. Most students prefer owls because they can deliver mail. Although, other animals have been seen as pets at Hogwarts, most notably Ron's pet rat Scabbers. The school year begins on 1 September.

(more information at: Hogwarts on Wikipedia)

Hogsmeade

Hogsmeade is a fictional village in Scotland that appears in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. Hogsmeade is the only settlement in Britain inhabited only by witches and wizards, and is located south of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students of Hogwarts who are in their third year and above, are permitted to visit Hogsmeade during scheduled visits, as long as they have a signed permission slip from a parent or guardian.

([More information can be found here)

Diagon Alley

Diagon Alley is a road in London, comparable to a magical high street. It is accessible to witches and wizards but hidden from Muggles. However, Muggles are allowed access to it if they wish to accompany their magical children. It appears to be an economic hub of Britain's sparse Wizarding world. It is home to Ollivander's (makers of magic wands since 382 BC and likely the country's primary supplier), as well as the goblin-run Gringotts Bank and Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Other establishments include the Flourish & Blotts bookstore, Eeylops' Owl Emporium, Quality Quidditch Supplies and The Leaky Cauldron Inn. For those shopping for Hogwarts equipment, Diagon Alley serves all needs.

There are other shopping areas besides Diagon Alley: the notorious Knockturn Alley is home to mainly stores of ill repute among respectable wizards - stores such as Borgin and Burkes, which sells Dark objects and cursed items; as well as the town of Hogsmeade.

One entrance to Diagon Alley can be reached on foot by passing through the famous inn, The Leaky Cauldron. The inn, invisible to Muggles, lies somewhere along the London thoroughfare Charing Cross Road (Charing Cross Road is famous as a centre for booksellers, both new and second-hand, which might go some way towards explaining why noted bibliophile JK Rowling chose it as the entrance to her world). To reach Diagon Alley, one must walk up to a wall behind the inn, and tap a brick three times found by counting three up and two across.

(More information: here)

Platform 9 3/4

(aka) The Hogwarts Express is a fictional magical train in the Harry Potter series. It is ridden by students between London and Hogsmeade. The train starts from King's Cross railway station platform 9¾, which is invisible to Muggle eyes and is reached through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Prefects of the school ride in a separate carriage near the front of the train.

Motifs

Owls: Owls are perhaps the most visible motif of the Wizarding world. They appear at the start of the first novel, presaging what is to come, and play a very visible role in every novel following. They act as the principal form of communication among wizards (somewhat like carrier pigeons) and also as pets. Harry Potter has a pet owl named Hedwig.

The Hogwarts Express: An old-fashioned train drawn by a scarlet steam locomotive that is the principal means by which a wizard in training can reach Hogwarts. It departs from Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station, London.

Houses: Like many boarding schools, Hogwarts is divided into four separate houses, and students are sorted into their respective houses at the start of their first year. They are Gryffindor (which favours courage), Ravenclaw, (which favours intellect), Hufflepuff, (which favours hard work and fair play) and Slytherin (which favours ambition). Upon arrival, Harry, along with his friends (Ron and later Hermione), are sorted into Gryffindor.

Quidditch: a spectator sport in the Wizard world, played up in the air on brooms. Similar in style to basketball and soccer. Harry is an unlikely Quidditch star at his school.

Blood purity: Wizards tend to view Muggles with combination of condescension and suspicion, but for a few wizards this attitude, over the centuries, has descended into bigotry. Characters in the novels are classed either as "Muggle-born", (a wizard born to Muggles) "half-blood" (a wizard born to one wizard parent and one Muggle or Muggle-born parent) and "pure-blood" (a wizard born to parents of purely wizarding lineage). The maintenance of blood purity is the primary motivation for many of the series's darker characters.

(info from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter)

Bloodlines

Pureblood

Pure-blood wizards claim to have no Muggles whatsoever in their genealogical pedigree, or at least have assured themselves that this is the case over the generations. In response to fan questions, J. K. Rowling has said that to be considered pure-blood, all of one's grandparents must have been wizards.

Half-blood

Half-blood wizards are not Muggle-born, but their heritage includes one or more Muggle ancestor(s). Today, half-bloods are the most common kind of wizard (Rowling has stated that of the Hogwarts annual intake, 50% are half-blooded), especially as magical folk would have dwindled to extinction without marrying Muggles. Blood purity fanatics regard half-bloods as inferior wizards, though they think of them as superior to Muggle-born wizards.

Muggle-born

Muggle-borns are the occasional witches and wizards born to Muggle parents, or at least have Muggle grandparents. According to J.K. Rowling, in order to be considered pure-blood, one's grandparents must be wizards. If both of a wizard's or witch's parents are Muggle-born, it might give that person Muggle-born status. Their magical abilities do not seem to be significantly affected by their parentage — in fact, many Muggle-borns have been among the most powerful witches and wizards of their time.

Blood purity fanatics despise Muggle-borns above all other groups (even more than Muggles themselves), considering them insults to everything wizards stand for, or as Muggles seeking to rise above their station. Pure-blood fanatics use the term "Mudblood" to refer to Muggle-born wizards, which is analogous to foul racial and ethnic slurs found in the real world. The proportion of the wizarding population that is Muggle-born seems to be on the rise as the pure-blood families shrink in size and number (according to Rowling, of the annual Hogwarts intake, 25% are Muggle-born and 25% are pure-bloods), and the number of wizard births among Muggles could conceivably be increasing.

Squib

A Squib is a person of wizarding heritage who lacks magical ability; as Ron Weasley explains, Squibs are, in essence, the opposite of Muggle-born wizards. A Squib is a very rare anomaly.

Muggles

Non magical people.

Themes

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Themes_and_motifs_in_Harry_Potter